A Moment Like This
by nlfrederick
Summary: A sequel of sorts to Something Like You, in which a ball, boyfriends, interhouse relations, etc. take place.
1. It's Almost A Feeling, We've Met Before

A Moment Like This 

Part 1

By: Nicole

Note- This is the ball! If you have read Something Like You, then you will understand this much better. And if Hermione seems a bit to concerned about colors and robe styles in the robe shopping, remember, this is Harry she's going with and she wants to look nice at the ball.

The key is pretty much the same as last time- **Bold – thoughts**; and _italics are song lyrics_.

Also, thanks to Libbie in the H/H House party for reminding me what the Tickling charm is.

_A moment like this_

_Some people wait a lifetime_

_For a moment like this_

_Some people search forever_

_For that one special kiss_

_Oh, I can't believe it's happening to me_

_Some people wait a lifetime_

_For a moment like this_

_~"A Moment Like This" – Kelly Clarkson~_

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Lavender, hurry up! You're not the only one who's going in couples to Hogsmeade today!" Hermione Granger paced in front of the door connecting the bathroom to their dormitories.

"Fine, Granger, let me look bad for Ron! You only care that you look good for Mr. Potter. And you want to get to Hogsmeade and get the good robes." Lavender called back indignantly.

"Well, Lav, can you blame me? I mean we only just knew we were going to the ball together five days ago! You and Ron have had your minds made up since before the last Hogsmeade weekend. You could have gotten your robes then!"

"Hermione… Mr. Weasley only just got his promotion, remember? Ron didn't have the money last Hogsmeade weekend. Besides, we're not leaving until he's up and has eaten. And you know it takes him a while." Lavender poked her head out from behind the door, making sure Hermione was the only one there before coming out. "Where's Parvati?"

"She went to ask Ginny if she could use their bathroom. Said something about a 'silly blonde with a boyfriend.' Anyway, I've already been down to the common room, and Harry's already up! He said he was waiting on me, and that he'd left Ron for Neville, Dean, and Seamus to wake up. They have just enough distance to be able to do a prank to wake him up." Hermione laughed, imagining what Dean and Seamus would come up with and what Neville's reaction would be.

"Well, go on Herms, get in there and get clean, I'll pick you something to wear, since I'm assuming you've been so busy getting me out of there you never picked your outfit for the outing today? Well, have no fear, Lav's here!" Lavender had just gotten her outfit on and looked happy at the prospect of choosing someone else's outfit.

"Fine. Nothing too short or too skimpy. Basically, one inch max between top and skirt, or you can find my black skort and a top that you think will go with it. Nothing of Parvati's, ok?" Hermione figured that anything in the categories she had said not to choose was over the top, and most everything else was decent enough for her age.

"Okay, now get in there, I'm going to go with your skort, if I can find it, and I think I may have a top to go with it. Just trust me, okay?" Lavender opened the bathroom door and shoved Hermione inside, closing the door behind her. "And don't come out until you're through!" And with that Lavender went straight to her own trunk to find something.

"Now where did I put that green ¾-sleeve blouse?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hermione had agreed to the green blouse, and had let Lavender put a little make-up on her. Ginny had come in as well, commenting on how natural the make-up looked, and how the blouse and eyeshadow brought out the gold flecks in her cinnamon-colored eyes.

Harry's reaction, however, was nothing short of spell-bound, or star-struck, depending on which one you preferred to use. Ron, who had been woken up with a bucket of ice cold water to his face, told Hermione she looked "Absolutely ravishing." Of course, Ron being Ron, this was to be expected, as the response was a typical one.

Once in Hogsmeade, Ron drug Harry away to the Quidditch Supply Store and Zonko's, while Hermione dragged Lavender to the Wizard Supply Shop, and the Bookstore. 

After a while the boys and the girls emerged from those shops and headed to Gladrags' Wizard Wear to get new robes for the ball. Lavender and Hermione made sure when they passed Ginny heading out, that the two boys were distracted from noticing whose company she was in, for, especially in Ron's case, Ginny's present company would not go without some kind of fight between brother and sister.

Lavender went through the possible robe colors, picking up color samples every now and then. Finally she held up a blue scrap and showed it to Ron.

"What do you think of this color?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said, snatching the scrap out of her hand. "How does it look with **my** hair?"

"Perfect. It makes your hair seem not as red, as though it's actually brown. Hmm, now I need a lighter shade of blue…" Lavender took the scrap back from Ron and held it next to some lighter samples. "Aha! Hermione, how do these colors look together?"

"Huh, Lav? Oh, those go very well together! I'm trying to find a robe style I like, but I'm having trouble. Plus, what about colors?"

Hermione looked up from the pictures of different robe styles.

"Well, let's see what I can help you with. Hmm… How about this shade of green?" Lavender asked pulling out a scrap of green that she had stashed with the lighter blue. "I think with your coloring…"

"Oh, coloring, my foot! You just want Harry and I wearing green, because green goes with blue very well. Not to mention his eyes…" Hermione got a dreamy look on her face. Lavender looked around and saw Harry and Ron over looking at the guys robes and commenting on how ridiculous some of them were.

"Herm, snap out of it! Let's go help those two over there in choosing their robes, then we can find robes in our colors and see which the boys like best." Lavender pulled Hermione up out of the chair she had sat in to drag her to the boys. Almost right away Lavender spotted some blue robes. She pulled them off the rack and handed them to Ron. "Here you go!"

"Thanks, Lav. You're such a help with these things. I'll be right back, okay?" Ron took the robes to make sure they fit right and if not, to get them altered.

Lavender shot Hermione a look that clearly said "Help him out!"

Hermione scanned the rack for a dark green robe and pulled the first one she saw.

"Harry? Are you looking for something?" she asked with a small smile on her face.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, Herm. Just drifted off for a minute there. You found one? Thanks!" He grinned and hugged her, dashing off in the direction Ron had went.

"Now lets go find some robes, Hermione, and surprise them." Lavender pulled some robes with embroidery on them off the rack, handed the green ones to Hermione, and dragged her to the try-on area. "Come on!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After they got their robes, they went to the Three Broomsticks and had a couple Butterbeers, but when they finished them, they decided to head back to Hogwarts. After all, it had been a long day.

The next week was full of homework, even though the ball was that Saturday, ironically, after the Slytherin/Ravenclaw quidditch match. Because of the ball though, the game was going to start earlier than usual.

Finally, it was Friday, and you could tell that something was happening soon, for all the excitement in the air- along with all the magic, of course. After dinner, when the girls went up to their dorms, Ginny brought her robe to Hermione and Lavender to keep, since they were helping her get out of the tower without Ron asking who her date was. If there was one thing that would happen, Ron would definitely get mad at Hermione, since she had known since it happened, but most of all, Lavender would probably suffer the worst, being Ron's date to the ball.

They all slept well that night, dreaming of the things they wanted to happen at the ball. Ginny dreamed Ron just ignored who her date was and was at least civil to him. Hermione just dreamed of getting Harry do at least dance once, if she got one dance, she would be happy. Lavender, however, hoped that she and Ron would get some 'alone' time. Ron dreamed he actually approved of Ginny's date, and that Lavender wouldn't force him to dance too much.  Harry dreamed he told Hermione all about how he felt about her, and that he got to have some 'alone' time with her, just enjoying being with one another.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next morning, Ravenclaw beat Slytherin, thanks to Cho Chang catching the Snitch before Draco Malfoy was even halfway there. Hermione had borrowed Harry's invisibility cloak before the match, and was going to lend it to Ginny, who would give it back after the ball. After the match, the girls went up to start getting ready, and Ron started up an impromptu chess tournament.

Hermione set her stuff up while Lavender was washing up, and when Lavender came out, Hermione went in next, while Parvati worked on Lavender's hair. Then when Hermione came out, Parvati dashed to wash up. 

Hermione put on her green robe, which with its gold trim, looked like it had been made for a princess. Lavender, who was dressed in equally nice blue robes with bronze trim, was looking through the stuff she had lying on the table they had conjured up. She looked up and beckoned Hermione over to her. 

"Okay, let's fix you up, Herm. Hair or make-up first?" Lavender asked her.

"Hair, I think, Lav. Doing my hair first should make doing the make-up easier." Hermione relaxed slightly seeing Lavender's face. She figured since Lavender was being so calm about this that there was no reason for her to worry.

"So, Herm, how was Ginny going to do her hair? Was she going to get a spell for it?" Lavender asked after casting a spell that made her wand act as a curler and winding strands of Hermione's hair around the tip. She held it for about ten seconds before letting the hair go and going to the next strand.

"I found her a really good charm, but you have to wait to see what it does. It's mine and Ginny's little secret. At least until we see her at the ball," Hermione closed her eyes, picturing what she'd like her own hair to look like.

"Herm! I'm your partner in crime here, not some spy who's going to run telling the big bad brother as soon as you tell me! I swear on my honor as a Gryffindor!" Lavender was almost on her knees begging, or as close as she could be without stopping her hair curling.

"Okay, I guess I can tell you. The spells I gave her were _Curlius Spiralis_ for spiral curls, and then I gave her _Pilius Tressalus_ to pile the curls on her head. We even tried them then and there, and it was exactly like she wanted them to be! Lav, she's going to look perfect." Hermione couldn't wait for the ball right then, she wanted to see what everyone thought of Ginny's hair.

"Hermione, what's the charm for a lot of curls on the side and only curls on the end in the middle?" Lavender had had an idea, but she needed those charms to do it.

"Hmm… Lots of curls on the side, that would be_ Curlius Sidalus_, and end curls in the middle is _Medianis Tipus Curlius_. Might I ask-"

"What it's for? No, but you will find out." Lavender muttered the charms, rummaged around in her hair clips, found her lily hair combs with the emeralds, placed them in Hermione's hair and muttered the Holding Charm so Hermione's hair would stay all throughout the ball. "Okay, I think it's time for make-up, Herm. How about the same as last Saturday plus some glitter in your hair, and on your skin? And for the colors, I'm thinking green and gold, and for your lips, red. But not too heavy, okay?

"O-okay. Lav?" Hermione couldn't help but look at their clock and see that the ball started in twenty-five minutes.

"Yes, Herm?" Lavender said as she cast the glitter charms on Hermione's skin and hair.

"Are you sure I'll look okay? I mean, my robes aren't like the ones I wore at the Yule Ball last year, and I don't even have a cloak to go with them. And what if-" Hermione got cut off by Lavender closing her mouth.

"Let me put your Lipstick on, Herm. And yes, I'm sure you'll look great, your robes are perfect, and that remains to be seen. Now pout." Lavender took a few quick strokes with the tube. "Hold it, Granger. We need the powder, then the lip gloss for shine." She pressed the tissue against Hermione's lips, dabbed powder over it, then took the lip gloss and dabbed some on. "Okay, rub your lips together. Do you have your slippers on yet?"

"No. Lavender, what did you mean by 'That remains to be seen'?" Hermione grabbed her gold slippers, pulling them onto her feet.

"Was that about me having a cloak?"

"That's for me and someone else to know and you to find out when we go down. Speaking of that, there's a better mirror down there, but you can't look in it until Harry's seen you." Lavender pushed her through the door, following her down the stairs. "Wait, I'm going first, Herm. You need grand entrance."

"Okay… If you say so Lav." Hermione noticed they were almost downstairs, so she stopped. "Should I wait here, Lady Lavender?"

"Yes, Lady Granger, I believe that would be most convenient. Don't come until you here me say something, okay? I believe your prince awaits." Lavender stepped down the final steps into the common room. Hermione could hear Harry tell Lavender she was looking very pretty. That was just like Harry, always the gentleman. 

"Lavender, where's Herm?" Harry asked, wondering why she hadn't yet entered the common room.

"She's waiting for my signal. Hermione, you can come down now!" Lavender stood beside Ron, with her arm resting in the crook of his elbow.

Hermione descended the stairs with the grace of an angel. When she was finally in view, Harry felt his mouth open, and tried to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. Ron pointed this out to Lavender, who stepped over to Harry and shut his mouth, though it did nothing to distract him. He just stared at her like he'd never seen anything as beautiful as Hermione in his life.

"Hermione, you look very nice tonight, and I hope I can say we won't do any fighting tonight," Ron said, turning a little red. "You gonna do something about him?" Ron pointed to Harry, who seemed to be petrified.

"Harry? Hello, anyone home? Harry, I'm sure I don't look that nice! Okay, that's it, you asked for it Potter! _Rictusempra!_"

That did the trick. Harry doubled over all of a sudden, finally jerked out of his stupor. Hermione removed the charm and pulled him up.

"Figures it takes me this long to understand why I like you so much, Herm. Let's see where did I put that infernal box? Oh, here it is. Herm, this is for you." Harry handed her the green square box with a look in his eye saying that he didn't even think what was in the box was enough.

She opened the box to find the most beautiful cloak she had ever seen.  "Ohh, Harry, you shouldn't have! This must have cost you a fortune!" She pulled the cloak out to find that not only was it green, the inside was gold, the edges were lined in gold, and the clasp was gold with emeralds in the shape of a 'H'.

"Here, Hermione, you want me to help you with it?" Harry held his hand out for the cloak and she handed it to him. He draped it around her shoulders carefully, and she held it in place while he came around to face her. He tilted her chin up and fastened the clasp, which glowed green and suddenly, Hermione felt warm inside. "It has a warming charm on it, and its other properties work best if the giver fastens it the first time." He offered her his arm, and she slipped her arm inside his. As they walked out the portrait hole, Ron and Lavender just barely heard something exchanged between the two.

"You know, Hermione, I think you're the absolute prettiest witch on the planet."

Hermione just blushed and said thank you, by the way.

Stay tuned for part 2 – The Ball


	2. Pretty Baby, Don't You Leave Me

A Moment Like This

Chapter Two

_Pretty Baby_

By: Nicole

I'm just going to jump right on in. For author's notes and key to bold and italics, refer to SLY or Part 1 of Moment Like This, though the italic quotes are just things being said by random people. Also, I take no credit for the happy Christmas songs the ball will have. And I can write Draco however I choose, so don't say a word. Also, _Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree_ is dedicated to all of my fellow shippers on the HMS Pumpkin Pie.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When they arrived in the great hall, one look told Hermione that Ginny and her date had not yet arrived. _Seems he really does love to make an entrance, especially when his date isn't the first person you'd expect._ She figured that since most everyone was going inside the Great Hall, they might as well go on in, too.

She steered Harry towards the entrance to the Great Hall, and right before they reached then entrance, which Ron and Lavender had already passed through, the whispers started behind them.

_"Is that **Draco Malfoy** with **Ginny Weasley**?" "I always thought he hated Weasleys…" "Ooh.. I wonder what his dad would say about this."_

Unfortunately for the speaker of the last one, Malfoy had heard them.

"My father's opinion does not matter to me any longer on such things as who I see. I'm old enough to decide that for myself, thank you very much." Then he wrapped his arm around Ginny's shoulders and smiled reassuringly at her. "Have I told you how lucky I am to be with you?"

"No, Dragon, but I don't mind if you do." She grinned up at him, not noticing the smug looks being sent at them by Hermione, who was answering Harry's question's in an off-handed manner.

"Herm, is that **Ginny**? With **Mal- Draco?**" Harry asked her as they turned to head inside. "If it is, I'd better warn Ron, he'll freak out if he sees Ginny with Malfoy."

"Yes, Harry, that's Ginny, and yes, she's with Malfoy. But you're not going to Ron, because it's not his job to decide who Ginny can go to balls or to Hogsmeade with. And yes, I've known about Ginny and Malfoy, and I say as long as he treats her well and she's happy…" She trailed off because Draco and Ginny had just entered the hall, seemingly oblivious now to the stares and whispers. They passed by Harry and Hermione, and as they did so, Hermione just barely made out a 'Thank you, Herm.' from Ginny. Then she turned back to Harry, and over his shoulder caught a fleeting glimpse of Ron's face. "I'm glad Lavender's over there to hold him back and calm him down. Though, I hope he doesn't get mad at Lavender or myself when he finds out we helped Ginny with her hair and getting to the place they were going to meet." That last comment had struck something within Harry's mind, something he'd been wondering about but had never acknowledged.

"Hey, Herm, does that last thing have anything to do with why you borrowed my invisibility cloak?" He couldn't help himself, it slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it.

"Guilty as charged, Mr. Potter, as that's the entire reason I asked you for it. I figured if Ginny herself had asked for it, Ron would have been asking a million questions as soon as the request came out of her mouth." Hermione gave him a look that said plainly 'Don't even think you can come up with a contradiction to **that**.' Though it wasn't as if he needed the look to tell him that. After all, it was true. Out of all of the Weasley brothers, Ron was easily the most overprotective of his sister. In fact, he was starting to show it at that very moment. "Oh, no! C'mon, Harry! We have to go stop Ron before he gets in trouble!" 

Harry allowed her to drag him over there, simply because he had plans of holding Ron back from Malfoy, who seemed to really be interested in only Ginny, and if Ginny wanted to see Malfoy, it was her choice, because Ron dictating her life was quite ridiculous, really.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When they got over there, it was clear that their help would not be needed. Lavender was already calming Ron down, and had presently convinced him, with Ginny's help, to give Malfoy a chance on one condition – If Malfoy did anything to hurt Ginny, and Ron found out, **then** Ron could hurt him. But as Lavender told Ron, "Nobody wants a fight during a ball, Ron, so just let them be." And he did.

Amazingly, Ginny convinced Malfoy that, instead of sitting with the Slytherins, they needed to sit with the Gryffindors. Namely, Ron, Lavender, Hermione, and Harry. 

There was little conversation at first, until Draco said the last thing anyone ever expected to hear him say.

"Uh, listen, you guys, I'm really sorry for how I've treated you all in the past, and especially for uh, calling Gran- Hermione a, uh, a" Draco stopped, as the others, except Ginny, were looking at him in shock. Hermione regained her composure first and actually finished his sentence for him.

"A mudblood? Is that what you were going to say?" Hermione asked. She appeared surprised, but inside, she had known that Ginny would never see him if he wasn't truly sorry.

"Yes, that. I regret ever having used it, as it is a foul, ugly word, and should really be used on people like my father and Voldemort." Draco recovered his smooth attitude quite spectacularly, and was appearing not to notice the look of disbelief on Ron's face, and the look of amusement on Harry's.

"Well, I agree that it should be used on them!" Ginny exclaimed suddenly. She'd had her head resting on Draco's shoulder while he and Hermione had been talking.

This got the others to talking and pretty soon, Ron, Harry, and Draco were chatting like they'd known each other all their lives and had never been enemies.. Of course, Ron and Harry didn't trust Draco completely, ad he had done some horrid things in the past few years. But in their opinions, he had a wicked sense of humour, and was very intelligent, considering who he had for friends.

*************

The meal portion ended, and a few couples got up to dance. However, Dumbledore stood up, and motioned for the music to be cut off.

"I'm pleased to have a special treat for you all. We have a special guest here tonight, a popular singer who's most famous song is the anthem for the Puddlemere United Quidditch team. She's getting into the Yuletide Spirit by singin a popular muggle carol, _Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree_. Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Celestina Warbeck!" Dumbledore didn't try to keep their attention any longer, as the cheers from the majority of the male population were quite deafening. So he snapped his fingers once, a huge christmas tree appeared in the center of the room, and snapped them again so it was decorated, with lights.

Celestina took up the command of the activities.

"All right, Hogwarts! As you will have noticed by now, your dear headmaster has placed a tree in the center of the room. I am going to hold a contest of sorts.. First verse will be the 4th and 5th years, 1st Chorus will be the 6th and 7th years. The teachers are going to be watching. If you drop the connection between yourself and any of the people beside you, you're out. The three couples from each year, or years, will get to stay or come back in for the 2nd verse and the end of the song. But the deal with the last portion is this—Couples will be taken out one at a time, and magic is allowed to keep the connection, because this tree is big, and we will eventually have three, two, and then only one couple left. The last couple left will be our Yuletide Sweethearts. So, might I have all 4th and 5th years who are interested out here around the tree?" Celestina cued her musicians who opened the song.
    
    "_Rocking around the Christmas tree_
    
    _at__ the Christmas party hop_
    
    _Mistletoe hung where you can see_
    
    _every__ couple tries to stop_
    
    _Rocking around the Christmas tree,_
    
    _let__ the Christmas spirit ring_
    
    _Later we'll have some pumpkin pie_
    
    _and__ we'll do some caroling._"
    
    Out of the 4th and 5th years who had chosen to join in, Padma Patil and Terry Boot, Harry and Hermione, and surprising everyone, Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbott, were the 3 who got to go on. Then the 6th and 7th years went out to show their stuff, though they were definitely nervous, because the 5th years that had made it were clever in how they stayed together.
    
    "_You will get a sentimental_
    
    _feeling__ when you hear_
    
    _Voices singing let's be jolly,_
    
    _deck__ the halls with boughs of holly_
    
    _Rocking around the Christmas tree,_
    
    _have__ a happy holiday_
    
    _Everyone dancing merrily_
    
    _in__ the new old-fashioned way._"

In the end, Cho Chang and Roger Davies, Fred and Angelina, and George and Alicia were the ones from that group that got to go on. So they stayed in their positions by the tree while the 5th years joined them. Fred wound up next to Roger, Padma to Cho, Terry to Neville, Hannah to Hermione, Harry to George, and Angelina and Alicia next to each other. They waited on their cue, and started back up around the tree.
    
    "_Rocking around the Christmas tree_
    
    _at__ the Christmas party hop_
    
    _Mistletoe hung where you can see_
    
    _every__ couple tries to stop_
    
    _Rocking around the Christmas tree,_
    
    _let__ the Christmas spirit ring_
    
    _Later we'll have some pumpkin pie_

_and__ we'll do some caroling._"

By the time Celestina finished with the verse the second time, Harry and Hermione were the only 5th years left, with George and Alicia, and Roger and Cho being the 6th and 7th years. Harry and Hermione had already come up with something to keep them together, no matter what. Right when they had started, Harry had dug his wand out of his pocket and conjured up a length of rope, then split it in half, slipping Hermione one end. Her hand had temporarily moved to his arm, as the rule was not to lose contact. They had tied their ropes ends together in a knot, fingers lingering over each others. Now, it was clear that in a moment they would need their ropes. Hermione had pulled out her wand quickly and muttered a charm so the ropes would look as if they were arms and their actual hands.
    
    "_You will get a sentimental_
    
    _feeling__ when you hear_
    
    _Voices singing let's be jolly,_
    
    _deck__ the halls with boughs of holly_
    
    _Rocking around the Christmas tree,_
    
    _have__ a happy holiday_
    
    _Everyone dancing merrily_
    
    _in__ the new, old - fashioned, way._"

The first pair out of the three remaining to get pulled out was Cho and Roger. Cho whispered a soft "Good luck." to Harry and Hermione as they left. Hermione quickly grabbed Alicia's proferred hand, and let her hand pull slightly away from Harry's. Then George made the mistake that cost him and Alicia the contest. George had noticed the rope, albeit a little too late, and was reaching for his wadn to conjure up some rope. McGonnagall had noticed this right away, and had signalled to Dumbledore that they had their winners. This was perfect timing, as Celestina was heading into the last line of the song. She held the last line's notes like the muggle version had been, and the song ended. Dumbledore went up and conferred with Celestina, who smiled when she heard just who had won.

"Ladies, and gentlemen. May I have your attention, please? Headmaster Dumbledore has just informed me that we have our winners. And I'm sure you'll all agree with me when I say they make a fine looking pair. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to announce that the winners of our competition are none other than Mr. Harry Potter and Miss Hermione Granger! Come on, you two, up here!" Celestina beckoned them up to where she was standing, and Dumbledore had two little pins that he had quickly transfigured into little Misletoe Hearts. He handed them to each other, handing Harry's to Hermione, and vice-versa. Hermione pinned Harry's on his robes, and he did the same to her. She kissed his cheek on impulse, and he blushed slightly. She had blushed a bit too, as the whole room had seemed to sigh. They went and sat down amidst the sudden burst of chatter.

*************

After the contest finished, Ron quickly pronounced himself bored, and Lavender took that as a sign to drag him out on the dance floor.

"Harry, I won't force you to dance if you don't want to." Hermione said gently. "But I don't care if you can dance or not, I'd still enjoy myself just as much as if you were the best dancer on the planet."

Harry laughed. "Well, if you ask me, I can't be much worse than Ron. After all, he's fooling around out there right now."

Hermione turned around, and sure enough, Ron was doing a dance worthy of boy bands mixed in with hip-hop, rap, and rock head bashing. All in all, it looked very crazy, yet very much like Ron himself.

"You're right, you couldn't be much worse than that. And if you're unsure, I know how to lead and make it look like you're doing the leading. I don't mind at all." Hermione smiled reassuringly at him, and he felt his dancing nerves lessen bit by bit until they were gone.

Harry then set his butterbeer down, stood up and offered her his hand. "Would you, care to dance, Lady Granger?"

Placing her hand in his in reply, Hermione allowed him to help her stand, and they led each other to the dance floor. She then guided his hands until they were in the proper position, placed hers where they should go and started moving slightly. Harry, getting the idea, followed suit, and found that once he got the step pattern in his head, it was quite simple. 

After a few moments, the magical sound system stopped playing the music it had originally been playing, and a song started up. When the opening notes sounded, Hermione smiled.

"I found a charm that would make muggle electronics work here, and had my mom and dad send me one of my radios and some of my music to play in them. When they sent me my stereo, they had this song's album in it as a birthday present. I love this song, it's a beautiful one."

As he listened to the words, Harry understood why she liked it so much. "Well, Herm, let's dance to it then."

"Ok."

~*~Song Interlude~*~

_You light me up and then I fall for you.  
You lay me down and then I call for you.  
Stumbling on reasons that are far and few  
I let it all come down and then sung for you.  
  
Pretty baby, don't you leave me  
I have been saving smiles for you.  
Pretty baby, why can't you see?  
You're the one that I belong to.  
I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm  
You're the sun that breaks the storm  
I'll be all right and I'll sleep sound  
As long as you keep coming 'round.  
Oh pretty baby.  
  
And I know things can't last forever  
But there are lessons that you'll never learn.  
Oh just the scent of you, it makes me hurt.  
So havin' your love makes me better. Oh  
  
Pretty baby, don't you leave me  
I have been saving smiles for you.  
Pretty baby, why can't you see?  
You're the one that I belong to.  
I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm  
You're the sun that breaks the storm  
I'll be all right and I'll sleep sound  
As long as you keep coming  
  
Can you hold me?  
And never let go  
When you touch me  
And it's me that you own.  
Pretty baby,  
oh the place that you hold in my heart.  
Would you break it apart? Again  
Oh pretty baby  
  
Pretty baby, don't you leave me  
I have been saving smiles for you.  
Pretty baby, why can't you see?  
You're the one that I belong to.  
I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm  
You're the sun that breaks the storm  
I'll be all right and I'll sleep sound  
As long as you keep coming 'round.  
  
Pretty baby, why can't you see?  
Pretty baby, don't you leave me.  
Pretty baby, why can't you see?  
Pretty baby, don't you leave me.  
Pretty baby. My pretty baby  
My pretty baby, don't you leave me_.

**_-_**** _"Pretty Baby", by Vanessa Carlton, Album – Be Not Nobody_**

~*~End Song Interlude~*~

"Herm?" He looked at her, almost searching her soul, with those piercing green eyes of his.

"Hmm?" She just kept looking back at him, every so often taking a glance at his lips, which were definitely looking very appealing at that very moment.

"C-can I-I, uh, what I mean is, Herm, I need to talk to you. I don't care if we talk right here, I just need to talk to you." He suddenly looked as if this was very important to him.

"Of course, Harry, you can talk to me about anything at all!" _Especially if you're saying you love me,_ cam the annoying voice in her mind.

"We-ell, the thing is, I'm really starting to, uh, be really, uh, _attracted_ to, uh, oh bloody hell… Ithikimrllyatrctdtoyou and that I rllylvyou." Harry blushed, looking at his feet.

"What did you say, Harry? Did you say that you're _attracted_ to me? And that you _love_ me? Because if you did, I uh, I think you're really nice-looking and that I, uh, love you too." She too blushed and looked at her feet.

He looked up, and placed his finger under her chin, lifting it up to where she was looking him in the eyes. "Yes, Herm, I **did** say both of those things, and I meant every word." He brought his other hand up to tuck a curl behind her ears, his fingers lingering from the incredible tingling he felt from his fingers being in contact with her skin. Suddenly, he wanted to kiss her so bad it hurt. 

He leaned in closer, noticing her eyes fluttering shut when he was close. Their lips brushed against each others just barely, but the fluttering in their stomachs was so intense he couldn't resist pressing his lips harder against hers. _Funny… She tastes like Pumpkin Pie…_

Hermione was in heaven… absolute contentment. Truth be told, this was the best thing she had ever experienced, and she knew that if she ever had to really learn how to produce a patronus, this would be her happy moment, it was so amazing.

He pulled away, to take in some much-needed air, and saw her face. It was almost glowing. She opened her eyes, which had a dazed look to them. Harry smiled softly at her, before pulling her close for another kiss. And at that moment, neither one cared that they were in the middle of the ball, with everyone's eyes on them.

For they were together, and that was all they would ever need, was each other.


End file.
